


found myself (on your horizon)

by seenstealers



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3racha friend group, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Falling In Love, Homesickness, Light Angst, Love at First Sight, M/M, Making Out, Past Heartbreak, Smoking, Summer Romance, changbin has commitment issues, changbin is intimidating and hyunjin fucking loves it, hyunjin is baby, seungjin are exes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 05:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18515206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seenstealers/pseuds/seenstealers
Summary: “an echo in my mind, images of you and Ibut you can't be minesummer night, everything hurtsmake a move, pull me closerdrive me home with the windows down”hyunjin finds a home in changbin for the summer.





	found myself (on your horizon)

**Author's Note:**

> title and bio from drive by now, now  
> chapter title from i wouldn't mind by he is we
> 
> also disclaimer i know nothing about busan please forgive all the mistakes i literally just fucked around on google maps

Hyunjin couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the sea.

The blue expanse from outside the plane window was beautiful, and he noted that he was lucky to be sitting on the left side of the plane rather than the right, as it meant he got the view of the coast as well. While the plane was still a few miles above the ground, he could see the patterns of the blue waves, and the ant-sized boats that moved with them.

It was beautiful, but it wasn’t home.

Seoul was hard to beat. Throughout his nineteen years, Hyunjin was never far from the heart of the city; a heart that beat in time with his own. Many neighborhoods he knew like the back of his hand. The familiar skyscrapers comforted him, and small and big streets alike flowed as familiarly to him as the blood in his own veins.

The plane dipped onto the runway and landed mostly smoothly, Hyunjin not shifting his gaze from out the window even as it gradually slowed and taxied to the gate. He listened passively to the droning voice of the pilot on the intercom welcoming them to the city of Busan: local time 3 pm, 17 degrees Celsius. He stood up and gathered his things together: his favorite backpack and a medium-sized but totally stuffed black suitcase, a fancy one his dad bought him a few years ago that had more pockets than necessary.

He didn’t stop his music the whole time he was maneuvering his way out of the airport, and only ripped out his earbuds when he walked outside through the automatic doors and saw his mom’s car idling in the pickup zone with her standing by it, waiting for him. He stuffed the wires in his pocket and momentarily abandoned his suitcase by the entrance as he ran forward to tackle his mom in a hug. It was so warm and familiar, having been months since he’d last been able to feel her arms comfortingly wrapped around him. He rested his chin on her head and leaned into her small frame, her mumbling that she’d missed him and him saying it back, trying not to cry.

The drive to his parents’ home was long, but as they drove away from the inland airport and closer to the shore, Hyunjin got a few glimpses of Busan’s ocean that he’d only seen in his parents’ pictures. His mom turned into a highway exit and looked over at her son. “You were too happy to see me.” Hyunjin scoffed, “What’s that supposed to mean, I’m always happy to see you.” She shook her head and moved her eyes back to the road. “I know you. You don’t hug me like _that_ unless something is wrong, like when you got back from those weeks at summer camp after that kid-” She stopped her words short, noticing Hyunjin’s face begin scrunch in the way it always did when he felt embarrassed.

“You don’t have to tell me anything Jinnie, but just remember that I know college is hard. The first year is usually the worst. I also know you’re sad we moved, but try to enjoy it while you’re here. It’s a beautiful city.”

“Okay,” Hyunjin mumbled, as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the headrest, chest unwilling to unload quite yet. He’d somehow come to miss the smoothness of the passenger seat’s ugly tan leather.

-

His parents lived in the outer parts of the Suyeong area, more suburban than the bustling downtown area by the seaside. The ocean was still just a bus ride away. Their neighborhood’s streets were lined with greenery, small homes dotted among larger condominiums. The sun was threatening to set soon, telephone lines crossing the shaded sky. Hyunjin took it all in as he pulled his bags out from the car. Settling in was pleasant enough. Their house was quaint but roomy, street chatter and fresh late-afternoon air floating in through the open living room windows.

A self-imposed house arrest lasted about two days, despite his parents wishes for him to go outside. He fought back and swore he would, demanding they let him be lazy for a bit. He got familiar with the home, and his mom cooked him his favorite meals he’d always whined about missing when they spoke on the phone. Mostly, he just lounged in the guest room they’d prepared for him, his old sheets covering a new bed. He texted his friends, maybe a little too eagerly, asking them what they’ve been up to since they all went home, most of them within Seoul itself. 

By Sunday afternoon (he’d arrived late on Friday), he decided it was time. Hyunjin didn’t really need anything from the convenience store, but he did need to actually go outside, so he set out for a pack of gum, and maybe something else if he felt like it.

A fifteen minute walk and a brief period of shopping later, he ended up leaving the small corner 7-11 with a pack of spearmint gum and a bag of whichever chips were cheapest at the register. When he stepped out, he had to maneuver over to whichever surface was closest in order to sort out the messy pile of bills and coins the clerk had shoved into his hands. He found a table by the sidewalk outside a mostly-empty cafe and hastily sat himself down, laying out his phone, purchases, and cash.

As Hyunjin sorted himself out, he felt a pair of eyes on him, and he looked up to meet the gaze of a boy, probably around his age, who was sat across the table from him. Hyunjin knew he had a habit of being too into his own head sometimes, but he didn’t know how he’d managed to somehow not notice a whole human being just a few feet away. He had jet black hair and a captivating, intense pair of heavily-lidded eyes. Hyunjin threw him a gentle smile in greeting and dropped his head down awkwardly as he fumbled with putting his wallet and the gum back in his pocket.

When he looked up, the other was still staring at him, but when their eyes met a second time, he looked away into the street, lifting a half-smoked cigarette to his lips. 

The cigarette smell was enticing enough for Hyunjin to stare at the rising smoke, but not enough for him to feel that burning want for it between his fingers and lips.

“Want one?”

The slight roughness of his voice caught Hyunjin off-guard, as the boy with the black hair and matching jacket lifted up his just-opened cigarette pack, flicking the lid off enticingly in his direction, a metallic silver lighter on the table in front of him. It was at this point that Hyunjin realized that this guy had, not one, but two eyebrow slits, crossing each other above his right eye. Hyunjin admitted that it was hot, and that this guy was hot, and that there was one part of his brain telling him to just accept the smoke from this hot guy, but he stopped himself and shook his head.

“Only when I’m drunk, thanks though.”

“Is this your way of trying to get me to ask you out for drinks?”

Hyunjin choked a little. He wasn’t expecting that.

“I’m joking,” eyebrow-slit guy continued, a lopsided smile playing on his lips. “My name’s Changbin, nice to meet you.”

-

As late afternoon shifted to evening, daylight remained bright, but the hue of the sky had changed, like space transformed from a bright and clear blue to a muddled slate grey. Hyunjin walked home, letting the blue arrow of his phone’s GPS guide him.

He swung his right foot harshly in his steps to kick loose stones in the sidewalk, trying not to kick them into the road in case they hit a car. He was frustrated. He hated feeling vulnerably attracted to someone. A voice in his brain had told him to return Changbin’s confident smile and introduce himself, maybe sprinkling in a witty joke, then ask him for his number.

He paused his preteen-like gay panic tantrum when he noticed that the sky hovering above the rows of buildings and trees was swirling in changing colors of blue and purple, the future darkness announcing itself. It was pretty beautiful.

Hyunjin took a picture that he posted as soon as he got home, about twenty minutes later. He plopped onto his bed with accidental force enough that the mattress squeaked. He decided the post the photo on instagram because he hadn’t documented being in Busan yet, and a cliche but pretty picture of a sunset was his best idea. He posted it with an embarrassing caption reading “busan vibes”, because nobody was allowed to know just how homesick he was, and he refreshed the post a few seconds after posting to catch the first likers, a habit.

One like from his cousin who lives in Japan, and the other from Minho, a friend from home. He refreshed it again, this time, a comment popped up.

@j1_sung: YOU’RE IN BUSAN?

Hyunjin blanked for a second. Jisung? Han Jisung? Han Jisung, his middle school best friend who moved from Seoul to Busan their first year of high school?

A direct message notification swung down from the top of his screen.

@j1_sung: yo! if you’re in busan we HAVE to hang out, its been forever

@hwanghyun: omg, hey jisung. i’m here for the summer! and yes please, i’ve missed you

@j1_sung: you softie. here’s my number:

They texted back and forth, deciding to meet up the next day at a bubble tea place, a bus ride away, that Jisung claimed was “the best shit ever”; Hyunjin was going to take the local’s word for it. He hadn’t really talked to Jisung since he moved, apart from the odd message here and there. Their closeness being ripped apart when they were fifteen was pretty painful to Hyunjin, and he felt a distinct warmth in his heart he hadn’t felt in years whenever Jisung sent him a message.

Jisung greeted him with a classic Jisung hug, one that was probably intended to be capable of crushing ribs, but wasn’t quite there because Jisung was still as tiny as he was in middle school; he always had been tiny compared to Hyunjin.

Despite the height difference remaining, Jisung looked different, he’d grown up. His cheeks were still full, but now he had a sharp jawline outlining his face. His hair was dirty blond, almost a light brown, but with scattered purple streaks, and it looked like he was wearing some makeup: brown eyeliner smudged on his lash line and filled-in brows. None of this was news to Hyunjin, they followed each other on online and occasionally Jisung’s selfies or semi-professional pictures his friends seemed to take of him would pop up on Hyunjin’s timeline. It was just different to have him there, in person.

“You grew even taller, what the fuck.”

Yep, Jisung still smiled that same chipmunk smile, too.

Inside, Jisung excitedly gestured to the menu affixed to an exposed brick wall, reminding Hyunjin of his own favorite hipster cafe. “Their milk teas are the best, like, to die for. You like oolong, right? It’s really good here,” Jisung rambled on. “Yeah, I love oolong. I’m sort of surprised you remembered,” Hyunjin laughed. Jisung shrugged. “It’s not hard to remember stuff about you.” He moved to the register and ordered for the both of them, and paid despite Hyunjin’s protests. “My city, my treat,” he said, tongue caught between his teeth as he counted the number of bills he needed.

The two sat by the window, and Hyunjin rushed to grab their orders at the counter when they were called to avoid the guilt of having Jisung be even more accommodating.

“So, what’re you doing in Busan?” Jisung asked, brow slightly arched as he took a sip right after Hyunjin placed the pink paper cup in front of him. “My family moved here a few months back, while I was still at school. Mom’s work. I didn’t have a place to go back to in Seoul anymore, so I had to come here.” Hyunjin took a sip too, involuntarily letting out a satisfied hum. Jisung was right. It was, perhaps, the best shit ever.

Jisung noticed his expression. “It’s good, right?” He smirked before furrowing his brow. “You don’t sound happy about not being in Seoul.” Hyunjin shrugged. “It’s just weird, family moving away. You know me, I’m not adventurous like that.” Jisung nodded. “I guess.”

“What was it like for you?” Hyunjin asked, easing back into the seat. Jisung thought for a sec, chewing on a pearl from his tea. “Like, it was weird to spend high school without everyone I grew up with. Everyone at my high school here went to middle school together, but eventually it turned out fine, it’s not too hard to readjust.” Hyunjin nodded, he already knew everyone at his high school too. “But also, it was kinda fun to be from the capital, gets you some cool points.” Jisung said with a cute giggle.

They fell into a short silence, one that was a little awkward. It was weird to talk to Jisung after so long, his aura had developed to one that was far cooler than the dorky kid Hyunjin had once been familiar with. The Jisung that Hyunjin knew from 8th grade would’ve never worn that Supreme hoodie. “So are you a hypebeast now or something?” Hyunjin thought out loud. Jisung looked down at the red logo. “Kinda? I guess? My friend group at university likes this stuff so I think it rubbed off on me.”

Hyunjin nodded. “I like it, I’d wear it if I was cool enough to pull it off.” Jisung shook his head. “No dude, I love your style.” He could’ve easily been lying, but Hyunjin just accepted the compliment. He didn’t think his clothes were anything special, but he knew he was hot.

They spent the next forty minutes talking about what their first year at university had been like, majors, roommates, friends, anything. Jisung was majoring in music production at a good university in the city. “So your parents ended up letting you do music?” Hyunjin asked. Jisung nodded and gleamed, “We talked about it a bunch and I ended up getting a scholarship! I’m lucky. What’s yours?” Hyunjin shrugged, as if to say ‘it’s what you’d expect’. “Literature,” he answered. Jisung laughed lightly. “Always the bookworm. To be honest, I would’ve considered it too if things hadn’t worked out, my sort of subject I guess. One of my friends is an engineering major… I don’t know how those people survive.”

Jisung paused before he remembered something. “Oh, also! How’s it going with that guy? I saw you guys in a few pics. What’s his name… Seunghun?”

Hyunjin stiffened a little. “Seungmin. And, uh, we broke up in March.” Jisung’s eyes widened apologetically. “Shit, sorry. I should’ve checked before asking,” he cursed quietly. Hyunjin smiled and waved his hand. “Don’t worry, honestly, it’s fine. It was really lowkey, I didn’t even delete the pictures of us.” The other boy looked on quizzically. “Don’t exes usually do that though?” Hyunjin fought back a blush. “Yeah, I guess they do. We ended on good terms though, we’re still kinda friends, so I just figured…” Hyunjin trailed off.

Jisung took an exaggerated sip, as if to say “I can still tell when you’re lying to me.” 

-

The next day Jisung sent him a four worded text:

Jisung: my house at 9

Hyunjin had nothing better to do, so at 9pm that night he was at Jisung’s house, a two story townhouse even closer to the ocean than Hyunjin’s place was, down south. He thanked his uber driver (he would’ve driven himself if he was in the mood to ask his dad for the car keys), before walking up a few brick steps knocking twice on the wooden door. Jisung mom opened the door, who Hyunjin could still recognize as though it was back in 7th grade and he was coming over for a sleepover. “Hyunjin-ah?” She exclaimed before wrapping him in a hug.

Footsteps bounded down the stairs behind them. “Yo,” Jisung said, throwing a half-assed peace sign at Hyunjin, before grabbing him by the shoulders and wordlessly pushing him right back out the door he had entered from, Hyunjin waving goodbye to an equally confused Mrs. Han.

“Uh, what’re we doing,” Hyunjin asked.

“We’re going to the beach.”

“It’s nine pm.”

“Exactly! The beach is at its peak at night, and it’s a good introduction to Busan. Also, I want you to meet my friends, they’ll bring drinks.”

“Oh, sick,” Hyunjin said, more awkwardly than he would’ve liked. He hadn’t had a drink in a hot second and could use one, along with some friends considering he was going to be in the city for three months, until the start of the fall semester in September.

The walk wasn’t long, just a few turns down smaller streets led them to the main road lining the beach. They rushed across the street when the traffic died for a moment, and followed the sidewalk to the opening of the beach in the fence surrounding it. Jisung was wearing basketball shorts and flip flops, and was therefore far more prepared for the sand than Hyunjin was in his jeans and sneakers. A warning would’ve been nice.

Nevertheless, Jisung walks right in, and Hyunjin followed without taking off his shoes, willing to just shake out the sand later. “They should already be here somewhere,” Jisung thought out loud, trailing off as he glanced around. The sand was gently illuminated partially by the moon, and partially by the streetlights. The ocean was gently but audibly throwing its waves at the shore. Hyunjin looked around too.

“Could that be them?” He asked, pointing at two figures sat further along the stretch of sand, closer down to what looked like the busier side of the street. Jisung squinted, then smiled. Hyunjin took that as a yes.

They walked towards the two guys sitting on a towel laid out in the dark sand. One of them stood up as they approached. “Hey Jisung!” The guy who was standing exclaimed as they drew near, pulling Jisung into a hug. “Hey Jisung’s friend,” he added, gesturing to Hyunjin. He was around Jisung’s height, maybe a few centimeters taller, but it was hard to tell standing in sand. His blond hair was pulled back by a thin headband, and it sounded like his Korean had just the slightest foreign accent to it, one that Hyunjin couldn’t place.

“Hey, Hyunjin.” Hyunjin introduced himself, offering his hand to the other, trying to be polite in case the other was older. The handshake was comfortable and quick. “Chan. I mainly go by Chris, but I don’t care too much.” Chris. Definitely foreign. Maybe American?

He looked to the other guy, who was looking up but still sat on the towel. “Hey,” Hyunjin greeted him as well. He looked so familiar, even in the uncertain darkness. Dark hair, defined features, double eyebrow slit. Lopsided smile.

“Hi, again.”

Fuck.

Hyunjin tried to manage his surprise and realization. “Oh, shit. What a coincidence. Changbin, right?” He stuttered out like the incompetent dumbass he was. He briefly considered messing up his name on purpose to fake nonchalantness, but he decided that was too extra, even for him. Changbin nodded as Jisung and Chris looked at each other in mild confusion, settling down and pulling out a large black backpack. Hyunjin sat down too, crossing his legs, half facing the ocean.

Chris unzipped the bag. “Do you two know each other from somewhere?” Jisung gestured his head in shared curiosity. Changbin shrugged. “We met a couple days ago.” Hyunjin gulped a little. “Yeah, outside a 7-11. Small world.”

“Small world, big city,” Jisung added on, wide-eyed and turning back to Chris, who had started grabbing green bottles of what looked like soju out of the backpack. The bottles clinked as the blond lay three down on the towel by his side. He looked up at Hyunjin. “Want a drink?” Hyunjin nodded, and Chris proceeded to add a fourth.

Hyunjin gratefully accepted the bottle from Chris even though he knew the effect soju had on a lightweight like himself. He unscrewed the cap and sipped it. Grapefruit flavor.

“How do you know Jisung?” Chris asked nonchalantly, probably because there wasn’t much else to talk about. “We went to middle school together, in Seoul, we were really close,” Jisung recited with a smile. Hyunjin nodded. “What about you guys?” Hyunjin bounced the question back, accidentally holding eye contact with Changbin.

Changbin stayed quiet, returning Hyunjin’s gaze. In the darkness, Changbin was still as hot as he was midday, so Hyunjin decided that was just Changbin’s thing: being hot.

“Bin and I went to the same high school after I moved,” Jisung said as he laid back onto his palms. “And Jisung goes to the same university as me,” Chris added. Jisung nodded. “Chris is also a music major, so we met in the department.”

Changbin finally spoke, in his coarse yet still somehow pleasant voice. “I go to uni in Australia, Chris studied abroad at my school this past semester to be close to home for a bit.” Australia. That explained the accent, Hyunjin thought to himself. “Jisung made us like, try to be friends, and it worked out pretty well.”

“Cute,” Hyunjin said without really thinking. “Uh, why’re you in Busan this summer?” He asked, redirecting attention from himself once again.

Changbin took a few seconds before answering, tending to his soju. “I was coming back to see my family, they’re from here, but they have no room at their place for me. So I’m staying in Chris’ apartment for a few months, bless him.” Hyunjin was just now noticing the Busan Satoori that embellished Changbin’s voice ever so slightly.

Hyunjin wanted to hear more of it.

“Oh, that’s nice.” He took a sip, not realizing he had somehow gotten through almost all of his bottle in such a short period of time, he had about as much left as Chris. “Uh, what’s your major?”

“Engineering.”

Lightbulb, he was the friend Jisung mentioned. “Wow, that’s impressive,” Hyunjin said, because it was true (he couldn’t do math or physics to save his life), but mostly, he was just weirdly captivated by every word he said.

Changbin broke into a smile wider than his usual smirk, teeth showing. “It’s not really, I’m just good at it, left brain and shit.”

They talked for a while longer, hearing traffic slow on the street and seeing fewer and fewer people the later it got. They were pleasantly buzzed, Hyunjin veering more towards tipsy. He looked out at the curling ocean and blinked hard. Maybe even more than tipsy. He heard Jisung giggle. “Dude you're like, swaying a little. Didn’t think you’d be such a lightweight.” Hyunjin turned back and slapped Jisung’s arm playfully, telling him to shut the fuck up.

“Nevertheless, we need more. I brought fewer than I thought I did and I haven’t been properly inebriated since I’ve gotten out of school.” Chris began to stand, dusting some sand off his light blue jeans. Jisung sprung up. “I’ll come with!”

The two left for a convenience store a short walk away.

“Just us, huh.”

Changbin nodded at Hyunjin’s dumb statement.

The emerald waves tumbled and sang as they sat in silence, Hyunjin running his fingers through the rough sand. Changbin leaned over and shuffled in his bag that was strewn behind him, pulling out a small white box. He opened the cigarette carton the same way he had outside that 7-11, same smile, same eyes. “Drunk enough now?”

Hyunjin swallowed hard. “No, but it’s hard to say no to you right now.”

Changbin raised an eyebrow- the one with the cross- smirk unfading. “What do you mean?”

Hyunjin shrugged and threw all his cards in, why not.

“You’re hot.”

Changbin paused for a beat before pulling one out and reaching over, carefully pushing the cigarette between Hyunjin’s lips, then doing the same for himself. He materialized the same silver lighter from the pocket of his jeans, and held the flame in front of Hyunjin’s face.

‘Bad decision-making, as always,’ Hyunjin told himself as he leaned forward until the white end crumpled as it lit. Changbin took care of his own and Hyunjin glanced down as the other boy stuffed the lighter back in his pocket. His jeans were ripped along the thighs, and Hyunjin thought he was going to lose his mind.

“So are you, just so you know.”

It took Hyunjin a moment to realize this was a delayed response to Hyunjin’s own declaration of thirst a minute earlier.

“Oh, thanks,” Hyunjin mumbled awkwardly, smoke tumbling out of his mouth in time with his breathing instead of him properly blowing.

Jisung and Chris came back quicker than Hyunjin had expected. He fought back the feeling of disappointment that they couldn’t be alone for longer. Changbin intimidated him, but Hyunjin, for some ungodly reason, liked how small he made him feel. His clouded mind raced.

Almost immediately upon his return, Jisung loudly demanded for Changbin to share with him too. “You practically owe me a semester’s tuition worth in how many cigs you steal off me,” Changbin grumbled as Jisung gleefully lit himself one. Chris shook his head with a curled lip when offered. “No thanks, us Australians are healthy, you know.” Hyunjin fought back the urge to point out the irony of Chris proceeding to pull out even more soju from his bag.

Hyunjin put his cigarette out in the sand and put it where he hoped he’d remember to throw it away when they left. “We should all hang out this summer, guys. My boy Hyunjin is homesick and needs friends,” Jisung said, while attempting to crack open another bottle for himself (Hyunjin had called it quits already). Hyunjin groaned at Jisung’s mildly embarrassing comment. “You can find a home here for a bit,” Chris grinned. Changbin nodded, “we’re a good time.” Hyunjin stole a glance at Changbin’s face, skin glowing even in the dark. ‘I bet you are’, he thought to himself. “I’ll hold you to it,” Hyunjin quipped.

In the moment, alcohol and the coolness of the night were good enough excuses for Hyunjin to reason that it’d be okay for him to rest his head on Changbin’s shoulder. The other boy let out a distinctly deeper breath when he rested his weight on him, the dizzying cigarette smell from both boys conflating in the air around them.

Hyunjin closed his eyes for a moment, absorbing the hum of the ocean and the rising and falling of Changbin’s breath. Through his heaviness, he felt the warmth of the boy he barely knew, but he knew he wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! thank u for reading this fic that has been a wip and rotting in draft form for so long. i just wanted a summer romance fic where hyunjin is an easily infatuated baby and misses home and highkey just wants to jump changbin and perhaps catches some feelings along the way.
> 
> i just sincerely love changjin lots and i like writing them lol. ALSO i know the dark changbin characterization is so old and overused but i wanted to use it here, dont worry, i know changbin is a softie. not sure how long this will be but i think around 3 chapters, but we'll see.
> 
> thank you again!! stay tuned for more (when i figure out where to take this...) and now that im about to be done with this semester ill try to finish this asap! leave a comment if u fancy, bc i love those a lot. come say hi on twitter [(@hwanggyui)](https://twitter.com/hwanggyui) or leave me [a cc!](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


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